Copyright describes who is allowed to make copies of a book, article, photo, video or other work, and for which purposes an item can be copied. Each work has a copyright owner, which is often the creator or publisher of the work. The copyright owner can decide the terms on which an item could be copied; they can give or sell permission for it to be copied. However, for educational use, there is an important exception to copyright. Using a portion, generally less than 10%, of a work may be allowed for educational purposes according to the Fair Dealing exception of the Copyright Act.
(see more on fair dealing below)
You probably make copies regularly without thinking about it. A copy can be:
You can use “short excepts” of copyrighted material, such as: books, articles, videos, audio recordings, etc. in your class under the Fair Dealing provision as long as you also include the source and name of the creator.
Short excerpts can be:
You may use the larger of these categories. For example, if you have an article that is longer than 10% of a journal publication, if is still considered a short excerpt because it is one article from a journal publication.
Yes, the Copyright Act's exceptions for fair dealing allow the use of copyrighted material for research, private study, education, parody and satire. News reporting, criticism or review also fall within the fair dealing exception, however, the source must be mentioned.
It’s important to make sure none of your presentations, handouts and other materials used in class violate copyright. Learn more about what you can and can’t use for lectures.
Yes, section 30.04 of the Act allows you and your students to use and share publicly available internet materials within your education circle, as long as you cite the source. However, if the material has a clearly labelled prohibition against educational use (not just a copyright symbol), if it is protected by a password or other digital lock, if you know it is available without the consent of the copyright holder, you may not use the material without permission.
In most cases, yes. The Copyright Act's exceptions for educational institutions (section 29.4) state that:
"It is not an infringement of copyright for an educational institution or a person acting under its authority for the purposes of education or training on its premises to reproduce a work, or do any other necessary act, in order to display it," as long as there is no commercial version available that is appropriate for the use. This exception does not cover the distribution of copies of copyrighted work, in electronic or paper form. You must cite the source.
Yes. Permissions are only granted on a per-use basis.
It depends. You must ensure that the copy falls within the fair dealing parameters or have permission from the copyright owner.
No, when using articles from the library’s research databases, it is recommended to provide a link to the article instead of distributing a paper copy.
You must get permission from the copyright holder. For guidance and support, please contact the NBCC Copyright Officer Helen Hiltz, helen.hiltz@nbcc.ca.
Recording a virtual or in-person lecture is also making a copy. Learn more about when a lecture can be copied.
No, under the Copyright Act, students must ask for and get permission from the instructor, before the start of any lecture, if they wish to record that lecture.
Yes. You can record your own lectures for personal or professional use, but you must not have any students’ names or pictures in the recording without their permission.
Although Brightspace is a password-protected site for students, the Copyright Act and Fair Dealing still apply. Find out what the best practices are to keep content on your Brightspace course copyright compliant.
Yes. Here are a few tips:
It depends. You must ensure that the copy falls within the fair dealing parameters or have permission from the copyright owner.
No, when using articles from the library’s research databases, it is recommended to provide a link to the article instead of posting a digital copy.
It depends. The proper use of digital materials that accompany a textbook depends upon the rights granted by the publisher of the textbook. For guidance and support, please contact the NBCC Copyright Officer Helen Hiltz, helen.hiltz@nbcc.ca.
You can post your own presentations or others created by NBCC faculty or staff. You can also post a link to or post a copy of any creative commons licensed presentations as long as you include a citation. If you are unsure if you are allowed to post a copy to Brightspace, use a link (if possible) or ask for the copyright owner’s permission.
No. Without permission, you should not record a virtual event and then post it on Brightspace. You may record and post your class discussion about the virtual event.
No. If you're showing a video or film during a recorded lecture, we recommend that you stop the recording at that point, show the film to your students, then resume the recording. When you're ready to share the recording, you can then provide a direct link to the film or video so your students can watch it in their own time.
No, you should not download a copy of the podcast and post it on Brightspace. If you're recommending your students listen to a podcast, you can post a direct link to the podcast.
Media is often shown in the classrooms; however, depending on their licensing agreements, educational or classroom use may not be allowed. Find more information about how you can determine which videos, music and podcasts can be used in the classroom.
Generally, yes. You can play a video as long as it is for educational or training purposes and the audience is primarily made up of students.
The video needs to be legally obtained (e.g., purchased or rented from a retail store, borrowed from the library, borrowed from someone else who has legally obtained the video). You may not copy a video from home and show the copied version in the classroom, as the resulting copy is not a legal copy according to Section 29.5(d).
Generally, no. Section 29.5(d) of the Copyright Act allows you to show legally obtained videos in class. However, because you sign a user agreement with Netflix and iTunes to access their content, you should check the Terms of Use to which you agreed to determine whether classroom use is acceptable. Both Terms of Use indicate that content is for "personal use" or "household use", which may not cover classroom viewing.
Netflix has a list of their original content, some which allow educational screenings with restrictions. Titles which are available for educational screening will have a statement granting permission and list the restrictions.
It depends. You must ensure that the video has been uploaded to YouTube by the copyright owner, to avoid the use of copyright infringed material. If it is not posted by the copyright owner you cannot use the video. If it is uploaded by the copyright owner - and there are no limitations on the terms of use - you can show the video in class. You can also link to or embed the video in Brightspace or a website. Do not make a copy of the video and upload it to Brightspace.
Yes, section 30.04 of the Act allows you and your students to use and share publicly available internet materials within your education circle, as long as you cite the source. However, if the material has a clearly labelled prohibition against educational use (not just a copyright symbol), if it is protected by a password or other digital lock, if you know it is available without the consent of the copyright holder, you may not use the material without permission.
When using images in your work, you have 3 options:
When using an image in a PowerPoint, assignment, flyer, brochure or other work, you should always include an attribution statement. In this type of citation, you should include:
"'Australian Shepherd' 'Australian Shepherds' Aussie 'Morgan van Pelt' 'Mitch Van Pelt'" by Ted Van Pelt is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The fair dealing exception includes print and digital images as long as those images are not available for purchase. If you are able to buy a copy of the image in a format that would be appropriate for your use, and you could acquire the image within a reasonable time and for a reasonable price, copying the image is not allowed under the fair dealing exception.
If purchasing the image is not available as described above, the fair dealing exception applies to the image. You may use these images for educational purposes in presentations on campus or in course materials posted on Brightspace or other password protected e-learning platforms. You should still include a citation with the source and creator of the image.
Freely-usable images
Another option for using images for educational or non-educational purposes is finding images that have licenses that allow for reproduction and editing with or without attribution. A few websites with open
image licenses are: Pixabay, Pexels and Unsplash. Double check their licenses for your intended use before you copy them or publish your work.
Please note: even if you are not required to add a citation with certain images, the best practice is to include it. Adding a citation with the source of the image will allow yourself and your colleagues to reuse your course materials without needing to verify the image licensing.
Creative Commons (CC)
Creative Commons licenses allow you to copy and reuse images as long as you add a citation. You can search the commons for images to use. Wikipedia has an Attribution Guide with examples.
A simple Google Images search will often return lots of copyrighted images that we don’t have permission to use. A watermark (i.e., logo, lines or anything else superimposed over the image) usually means you do not currently have the rights to use that image. It is often safest to use graphics and images found on open license sites or from the Creative Commons.
It is always best to include the image source with an image. Even if you are not required to add attribution for certain images, the best practice is to include it. Adding a citation with the source of the image will allow yourself and your colleagues to reuse your course materials without needing to verify the image licensing. For guidance and support, please contact the NBCC Copyright Officer Helen Hiltz, helen.hiltz@nbcc.ca.
For any copyright questions, get in touch with Helen.Hiltz@nbcc.ca
For help with permalinks or more information on the library's resources, contact library.coordinators@nbcc.ca.
Find more information on using copyrighted material in the classroom:
The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) has a free video course on copyright for instructors. Watch their short videos and test your understanding of copyright in the classroom.
Note: The information obtained from or through this website is provided as guidelines for using works for educational purposes and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Contact helen.hiltz@nbcc.ca with any questions. The Library & Information Services Coordinator is not a lawyer or legal expert in copyright law, she is able to provide a professional and not a legal opinion.